


Johnny Come Lately

by atinylemon



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: Bros Bros Bros!, Gen, Just some brotherly bonding, Station Shenanigans, The Truman Brothers, The Trumans Show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 09:19:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15883143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atinylemon/pseuds/atinylemon
Summary: As Sheriff, Frank Truman runs a tight ship but occasionally, he needs a little help getting back on course.Also Harry is there. Hijinks ensue.





	Johnny Come Lately

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trufield](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trufield/gifts).



> This is part of my gift to Trufield for [The Wonderful and Strange Exchange](http://countdowntotwinpeaks.tumblr.com/). What a dream prompt! Station shenanigans when Frank is Sheriff and Harry's a deputy. I hope you like it! I had to reign in the angst. 
> 
> The other part is here: [here](http://doesnt-own-a-sportscoat.tumblr.com/post/177693082245/brothers-in-arms-those-good-ol-truman-boys-for)  
> Oh as usual all of my love and thanks to archive user - Sbubby for reading....so many drafts of this, each sadder that the former, until we got here. You're a saint and the absolute best.

The army brown buttons on Harry’s uniform seemed to be fighting against him as he and Hawk hurried to get dressed in the station locker room.

“Next time I’m leaving ya!” Hawk yelled over his shoulder, “He’s your brother! He’ll forgive you.”

“Are you kidding? He’s gonna make an example out of me to prove he doesn’t play favorites. Besides,” Harry caught up behind him, trying to do his tie and jog down the hallway at the same time, “last time you picked me up for work, you were the one who was late. We’re even!”

“Oh! We’re even! Why don’t you…tell me all about it...when we’re...directing traffic later!”

They skid to a stop a few feet before the door to give the illusion of composure. A group of murmuring officers looked up at them in unison as they soberly slinked into the room, primed for one of Frank’s classic speeches of the importance of punctuality.

“Fellas. Roll call is an important part of your day. Your timeliness for it shows you value - and respect - the time of others. It shows your fellow officers that you are dependable and ready to serve with them. They have no doubt that you’ll be right there when they need you...”

The speech wasn’t always the same but it had a lot of the same notes. Harry could give a pretty convincing impression if you caught him on the right night at the Roadhouse.

Today, the speech never came. They looked up from their feigned penitence to find room was the same as it ever was, desks, chalkboard, podium, with one notable exception.

“Hey Harry! Where’s your brother?” one of the men whispered loudly.

Harry bent over to catch his breath, “Hell if...I know...he left….before me…”

“If he’s not here...in 15 minutes…we get to leave right?” Hawk was leaning back against the wall and Harry gave his stomach a quick slap.

“Nobody’s goin anywhere. Guess I’ll...check his office.”

A murmur went up from the group.

“Good luck Harry!”  
“Nice knowing ya.”  
“We’ll send condolences to your mother.”

Frank was reasonable, grounded, pleasant even, but it was a well know fact to all the officers, in particular some who had found out the hard way, that he did not take well to being disturbed unexpectedly in his office.

“Everybody relax, I’ll be right back.”

The receptionist was filing her nails absentmindedly when Harry came over.

“Morning Madge, is he in?”

“Yeah, he’s in,” she said dreamily.

“Harry, what’s gotten into your brother and can it happen more often?”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“Well, I was watering the plants like I do every Monday and your brother comes in with this goofy grin on his face. Tells me, ‘Good morning,’ and ‘Isn’t it a beautiful day?’ and I go, ‘Yeah, it’s alright,’ and he says, ‘Alright?’ and next thing I know wraps me in a hug, picks me up, puts me down and says, ‘Madge! It’s beautiful!’ Then he trots off into his office like nothing happened and I have not seen him since. It was a good hug Harry, a real good hug.”

She looked Harry over, “That run in the family?”

Harry rolled his eyes and looked over at Frank’s office door, “Yeah, we’re huggers. Look can you buzz him for me? Tell him it’s time for muster, maybe he lost track.”

“Hang on a second,” She clicked a button, “Sheriff Truman?”

“Marjorie, how can I help you?” he asked sweetly.

Madge looked at Harry shrugged and mouthed, “See!”

“Well, I’m here with your brother,” she started.

Harry shook his head and mouthed “No!”

She smirked, “And he would like to talk to you about something.”

“Madge! Just tell him-”

“Oh yeah? Well send him on in! He knows he could have knocked.”

“Okay! Can do!” She hung up and smiled at Harry, “There you go!”

“Thank you Madge, always so helpful,” he muttered and walked over to Frank’s door. Before he could knock, it was open and Frank was smiling out at him.

“Hey! What gives? You know you can come by my office.”

“Uhh, okay. Well I-”

“Come in, come in. What’s up?” He leaned casually on the front of his desk.

“Well it’s 8:15....”

“Mhmm, okay,” Frank nodded.

“And uh, the boys were wondering…” Harry was waiting for Frank to put the pieces together.

Frank looked at him with a pleasant anticipation.

“Are you gonna do morning muster or?”

“Oh! It’s...oh. Yes! Right. Okay.”

“Yeah...you ok?”

“Harry,” Frank walked over and put both hands on his brother’s shoulders, “I’ve never been better.”

Rowdy chattering could be heard from outside the door. For a split second, Harry thought he saw a blur of Hawk peak out the door window and then duck away quickly and the noise seemed to settle.

“Morning fellas!” Frank bellowed as his strolled into the room.

Harry settled into the seat next to Hawk.

“What happened?” Hawk whispered.

“Beats me. He’s acting real squirrely.”

“Sorry for the delay boys. It’s a great day in this great town and we’re gonna get down to business.” Frank walked toward the windows and looked out to the trees behind the station.

The officers exchanged looks.

 

“We gotta stay on our toes. Stay sharp. But! We can’t forget what we’re out here protecting. This town trusts us to keep them safe! And that’s...pretty groovy.”

Hawk stifled a laugh and he wasn’t the only one.  
Harry had his hand over his mouth in disbelief.  
They didn’t dare look at each other. Their composure was tenous.

“Okay!” He turned toward the groop quickly and everyone went stone faced, “Let’s see what we got going on today. Edwards, when are you going to learn to tie that thing right, someone help him.”

At the podium he looked through some notes, “Sullivan you’re off traffic duty.”

“What!’

“Yeah, I know we said two weeks but you’re off the hook but watch it next time.”

Sullivan nodded gratefully as Frank went on.

“Alright, what else. Last night was pretty quiet but...”

Hawk leaned over to Harry and whispered, ““Groovy?”

Harry pressed his lips together and tried not to look at Hawk.

“You see the trailer for that new flick? Invasion of the Body snatchers?”

Harry’s lips quivered and he gave his friend a pleading look.

“Looks far out….pretty...groovy.”

“Stop, stop, I’m gonna bust a gut.”

“The aliens got your brother!”

“Harry!” Frank suddenly interjected.

“Yessir!”

There was a snicker from the group. He scrunched his eyes closed and leaned his head back.

“Way to go.” Hawk muttered.

“I’m riding with you today. Gotta talk to ya about something.”

A low ghostly, “ooo” rose up from the bunch and Frank, in the first characteristically Frank thing he had done all morning said, “Alright everybody settled down. You’ve got your assignments, get out of here.”

“Have a groovy day Harry.”  
“Hope your morning’s outta sight.”  
“Who knew your brother was so...hep.”

There was a perpetual groan from Harry as the room emptied out.

Hawk started to whistle Amazing Grace.

“Would it kill you to have some compassion?”

“Probably. Good luck.”

Reluctantly Harry settled into the cruiser and sighed, waiting for Frank to join him.

It was a beautiful day, even by Twin Peaks standards, Frank wasn’t wrong about that.

In the city, Harry had missed the crisp air and bright stars at night. Now being home for a few years, he did tend to take them for granted. In that way, Frank’s advice was warranted. Still, in the moment, he was having trouble feeling grateful.

Aside from being occasionally less than punctual, Harry was a pretty good deputy, in his opinion. They had both learned from the best. He wasn’t sure what Frank could possibly want to talk to him about.

They patrolled their beat for a bit before settling into a speed trap. The birds sounded particularly loud to Harry as they sat in brotherly silence.

“So uh...Ed and I been planning our usual shooting trip. Figured I’d see if you wanted to come.”

“Hm? Oh yeah. Yeah, maybe. I haven’t really done any shooting since...well it’s been a while.

Harry nodded and thought for a minute.

“Well, I was thinking, we oughta take dad out fishing. It’s been a while seen we’ve done that too. Though sometimes, I think he’s busier now than he ever was as Sheriff.”

“That’s for sure,” Frank said half heartedly. Much of the exuberance of the morning had gone out of him and Harry feared the worst. The cicadas trilled menacingly in the trees as if to underscore his concerns.

“Hey, is something wrong? Did I...didn’t you want to talk to me about something? Did I do something wrong?”

“What? Shoot Harry, no you’re fine. It’s me. I don’t know,” Frank let his head drop onto the dashboard, which meant he didn’t see Harry’s eyes go wide with amusement and alarm at the display.

“But I thought you had ‘never been better,’” Harry went to give him a pat on the back and then thought better of it.

“I haven’t! At least, well I think I haven’t. Harry,” Frank looked up at him defeated, “I think I’m in love.”

“Oh!” Harry said mostly relieved that his brother wasn’t dying.

“Wow.”

“Yeah. You know Doris and I have been going steady for the last month?”

“Uh huh.”

“Well, I went out that way to see her yesterday. Spent the day with her. We’re out to lunch and we both got patty melts, and I look up at her taking a bite and I just realize, I don’t want to go home. I just wanna do the same thing with her tomorrow and the day after.”

“A patty melt?” Harry tried not to laugh.

“Shows what you know about it. Sounds like love to me. I just can’t stop thinking about her. She’s just,” Frank threw up his hands and let his head fall back on the dashboard.

“Well, that sounds closer,” Harry looked at his brother melting into his police car. There had been girls and dates and things Harry had probably never heard about, but he had never seen Frank like this.

“Congratulations I suppose. When’s the big day?”

“Well, I gotta tell her first,” his indignance was somehow amplified by the vinyl beneath his face.

“And how are you planning to do that?”

“How should I know?” Frank looked up at Harry suddenly, in desperation haphazardly wrapped in frustrated affection, leaving a little damp circle on the dashboard where he was breathing.

“That’s what I’m talking to you for! You’re the romantic! Help me out Cireno.”

“Romantic? I’m not…”

“Harry, you once told a girl her hair was prettier than the sun and gave her a bunch of those little yellow weeds from the yard. Daffodils?”

“Dandelions, and I was like 6.”

“Didn’t you once pick out a bunch of poems for Big Ed to read to Norma junior year?”

“I was just trying to be helpful. You know Ed.”

“Yeah, sure do. But he never asked ya. Who was the poet Harry?”

“I...don’t remember.”

“Who was it?”

“John Keats.”

“See! I don’t even know who that is. I need your help!”

“Alright, alright, fine. But you’re probably overthinking it.”

Harry looked out the window and felt his face get a little warm as Frank listened.

“You know what she likes. You don’t gotta to trick her. Just...tell her what you told me. Maybe not...the patty melt part. Take her out to a nice dinner, go for a walk,” he shrugged, “and tell her how you feel. That’s all she needs to know.”

They were only a year apart. Frank knew as much about Harry’s love life as Harry knew about his but, in all that time he had never seen him quite settle with anyone. It was moments like these that made him wonder, if there had been someone while he was away at school or someone he’d quietly visit out of town while they all were away. It never seemed like the right time to ask.

“Harry, y’know, despite what they all say, you’re pretty smart. Thank you.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome. So, when are you gonna have her meet mom and dad?”

Frank’s face fell, “Christ.”

Harry laughed and brought his attention back to the road. Fortunately for Frank’s love life, things had been pretty quiet.

The cicadas switched to a different discordant melody to further their own romantic entanglements. To Harry it had the rhythm of waves and he let himself float with them for a minute. 

“You ever been in love Harry?” Frank’s voice from the passengers seat startled Harry as much as the question did.

“God, Frank.”

“C’mon, I just bared my soul to you.”

Harry’s eyes didn’t move from the road and he sighed, “No.”

“No, I don’t think so. Just read too many books I guess,” he turned to his brother, shrugged and gave a meek grin. It was a look that either came so naturally or had been practiced with such frequency, that it looked effortless. Frank couldn’t tell.

“Fair enough.”

The trees stood at attention as they passed by on the roads back to the station. In the streaks and smudges of green and branches, Harry thought he saw some yellow leaves. They were moving forward too quickly to know for sure, but they would have been early.

As a tree, if you were early for the change of season, is that good or bad?  
Is it better to be late, relish in the summer long gone? Stay green.  
And when you’re the last green tree in a forest of living fire, are you lucky or foolish? Should you be embarrassed or proud? A late bloomer or sewing your oats?

Time was funny like that. Time, was relative.

“Relative,” he thought as he drove on, piecing together Frank’s news.

Harry was, relatively happy for Frank. Relatively, because he felt suddenly aware of the distance between them.

There was only a year between them but something else made him feel it was longer. Something he was always rushing towards but never seemed to have have the time for.

Would it kill someone to wait for him?  
If he could just catch up maybe he wouldn’t feel so out of place.  
If someone was waiting for him…

“Harry,” Frank interrupted his thoughts with a voice twisted up in uncertainty, “what if...what if she doesn’t love me back?”

“Hey! What’s not to love?”

If Harry hadn’t been driving, he would have seen the face that his fellow officers knew meant, “cut the nonsense.”

“Look, if she doesn’t, she will. And if she doesn’t after that then, I guess, you’ll cross that bridge when you come to it. It’ll all happen when the time is right.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.”

The trees opened up to reveal the station parking lot.

“How bout I buy you lunch? Pay back for your booksmarts.” Frank asked Harry as he settled the car into a parking space.

“I knew they’d pay off for something one day. Just need to grab something out of my locker.”

“Alright, I’m right behind ya.”

A burly amicable man in full biker regalia, held the door for Harry and he saw him run into Frank in the parking lot.

“Thanks! Hey Madge, anything going on?”

Over her coffee cup Harry could see Madge’s lips coiled with excitement.

“Why...do you look like the cat who got the canary?”

“Well,” she nodded her head toward the waiting room, “She’s here to see Frank, but she didn’t want me to page him.”

“Who?”

Madge rolled her eyes, and pointed to a blonde woman sitting in the waiting area with her back towards them.

“The. Girl. Friend.” Madge whispered roughly through clenched teeth.

The woman stood up suddenly and Madge turned away from Harry to act like she was typing.  
The two studied each other knowingly for a second. Doris was known to Harry only through name, but he could see what Frank liked about her. There was a latent imposition about her.  
Something in her eyes hinted at a spring-loaded decisiveness that grounded her; she was immovable, unless she said so.

She flashed him a cat’s grin, full of teeth.

“How can I-”

“You Frank’s brother?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Doris. The. Girl. Friend.” she whispered and looked over at Madge, who had stopped typing to hear them talk but was suddenly consumed with her project.

“Well now," Harry smiled and shook her hand, "I’ve heard a lot about you. How did you know-”

“Family resemblance. You’ve got the same goofy surprised look, cept with curly hair.”

The door opened.

“See ya Joe! Good guy. Hey Madge?” yelled into the station, “What’s goin on with-Doris?”

“Not too much, how about you?” Doris smiled, pleased with her self as much as she was pleased to see Frank. 

“Well uh….not...not too much…” Frank stammered as he evaluated the scene.

“See Harry, that’s the face I’m talking about, in case you want to know.”

A few officers were regrouping for the afternoon but had started to pool up in the hall to see what was happening. The silence was broken by the phone, startling a riveted Madge back to life.

“Sheriff’s Station, can you hold please?”

“Madge!” Both Trumans yelled simultaneously.

“I mean, how can I help you?” she grumbled.

“Darlin’ what are you doing here?” Frank pulled Doris into a hug.

From across the room, Hawk caught Harry’s eye.

“What now?” he mouthed.

“Girlfriend,” Harry tried to convey discreetly.

Hawk pantomimed acknowledgement. It was a decent sized group of officers now, all trying to stand deer still, primed to scurry off with just the flash of a look from Frank.

“Well, I thought long and hard about this and there’s just nothing for it.”

“For what?” He bent his knees to read her face better as he tried to grasp what she was talking about. “What happened?

“You remember yesterday, when we got patty melts?”

“Yeah.”

Reflexively, Harry smiled and figured he would have to find his own lunch.

“Well you offered me the rest of your fries and that was the last straw Frank. Just the last one, and on top of just such a beautiful day. I thought to myself, well that’s it.”

“What?”

Doris, still in Frank’s arms, grabbed his collar and kissed him.

“Holy smokes.” Madge murmured and the station erupted in applause and hollering.

“I love you, that’s what.” she said looking him dead in the eye, still pulling him forward.

It took a minute for Frank to recover, and he stared back at her with a slack-jawed grin before he started laughing. The station went quiet again to hear his reaction.  

“If that don’t beat all,” Frank said softly, looking down at Doris in disbelief, “guess what.”

Before she could answer, he shifted his arms to lift her off her feet and leaned her back into another kiss.

“You took the words out of my mouth. Turns out I love you too.”

There was another wave of whistles and noise from the officers.

Doris' laughter cut through it, “You better. I didn’t drive all the way out here for nothing. Although, I could do with some lunch.”

Frank turned the two of them towards his brother, “Harry? You’ll take a rain check?

“I think had better.”

“Good, and take the boys out for the afternoon too, alright?”

“Next time Harry,” she winked at him.

“That’s right. Today you’re all mine.” Frank gave her a little toss and she bellowed with laughter.

“Alright, see ya boys. Oh Edwards! You’re on traffic duty til you learn to do that tie up right.”

"What!"

“Bye Boys!” Doris yelled over their shoulders as they bounded out of the station.

Edwards’ complaints could be faintly heard above a chorus of byes from the rest of officers.  
Then there was an explosion of noise between all of them over what happened.  
Harry sighed and ran his hand back through his hair.

“Alright! Show’s over. If you’re heading home, what are you still doing here? If you’re on duty, you know where you should be, let’s go.”

The officers filed into the roll call room and Harry looked out at them until the room was silent.  
Then he straightened up, and cleared his throat.

In a voice rougher than his own, he started, “Fellas! Think we oughta talk about timeliness...”


End file.
